Articles Posted inStockbroker Misconduct

Ronald Harris Rothchild (CRD #4491932) is a registered broker and investment advisor currently employed with National Securities Corporation (CRD #7569 of Melville, NY.) His previous employers include Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (CRD #6694) of Garden City, NY, Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC (CRD #19616) of Melville, NY, and David Lerner Associates, Inc. (CRD #5397) of Syosett, NY. He has been in the industry since 2002.

Rothchild is the subject of eight disclosures, the most recent of which was a customer dispute filed on 7/30/2018. In it, the client alleges “breach of contract, negligence, unsuitability, breach of fiduciary duty.” Damages requested are $100,000. This case is listed as “pending.”

Two previous customer disputes have been settled. The first, filed on 3/28/2018, alleges that from 7/26/2011 through 4/11/2016, Rothchild misrepresented certain investments that were unsuitable for her objectives. The client also alleges that her risk tolerance and investment objectives were incorrectly documented on her updated account paperwork. This customer requested damages of $149,236.86, and the case was settled for $75,000.

Recently, we told you about broker Thomas Kelly (CRD #2877415) whose disclosure include customer disputes that total over $1M in damages. Recently, another customer filed a dispute for another $500,000. He is currently employed with Aegis Capital (CRD #15007) of New York, NY.

The claim, filed on 11/1/2018, alleges “suitability, unauthorized trading, breach of fiduciary duty & negligence,” along with the request of $500,000 in damages. This new case is currently “pending,” and no other information is available.

Jackie Divono Wadsworth (CRD #2342163) is a former registered broker and currently registered investment advisor whose last employer was IMS SECURITIES, INC. (CRD #35567) of Houston, TX. She worked for IMS since 1994, and the firm was expelled by FINRA on 9/04/2018. Previously, she worked for Retirement Investment Group (CRD #7421), also of Houston. She has been in the industry since 1993.

In 2017, Wadsworth was involved in a customer dispute involving multiple claimants while at IMS Securities. In it, the claimants alleged that “a non-party under the supervision of Respondents induced Claimants to invest in unsuitable, high-risk, illiquid investments, including United Mortgage Trust (“UMT”), United Development Funding II (“UDF II”), and United Development Funding III (“UDF III”).” These allegations also included “aiding and abetting fraud, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy, civil RICO, civil RICO conspiracy, and negligent supervision.” Filed on 6/7/2017, the arbitration was completed on 11/8/2018, awarding a total of $963,836.00 to the claimants.

Following this award, Wadsworth failed to respond to an information request from FINRA, causing a suspension on 8/3/2018. She did not request her suspension to be terminated, and is now barred from any association in any capacity with any FINRA member.

Flaharty’s recent disclosure, filed on 5/12/2018, has been settled. This customer dispute alleged, “over-concentration and unsuitability in connection with an ETF investment.” The customer requested damages of $566,319.57, and LPL Financial has settled for $350,000. The allegations centered on dissatisfaction with the performance of an ETF investment. While the complaint was filed against Flaharty Asset Management (FAM), the investment adviser, and LPL Financial (LPL), Flaharty was not named in the action nor a party to the settlement.

Exchange traded funds (ETF) can be a suitable tool in an investor’s toolbox, but, if used improperly, an ETF can come with expensive commissions or high risk. The market has introduced numerous ETF’s over the last decade and investors can potentially lose a large amount of money in many ETF’s.

Paul Robert DiPietro (CRD #4313454) is a registered broker and investment advisor currently employed with Dawson James Securities, Inc. (CRD #130645), of Boca Raton, FL. His previous employers include Investors Capital Corp. (CRD #30613) and Chicago Investment Group, LLC (CRD #11853, expelled by FINRA on 9/14/2010), also of Boca Raton. He has been in the business since 2000.

DiPietro is the subject of a current customer dispute in which is alleged to have engaged in churning. Filed on 4/30/2018, the client alleges that “his account was churned and placed in unsuitable securities by the representatives at Dawson James and Spartan. January 2015 through September 2015.” The client is requesting damages of $100,000. DiPietro denies wrongdoing in this action. The claim is currently pending.

There are seven previous customer dispute allegations filed against DiPietro, either withdrawn, denied or settled. The two most recent were filed on 12/1/2014, with identical allegations of “rep failed to follow instructions by not executing orders as instructed which caused the customer losses because of the decline of the stock price.” The first claim requested damages of $126,105.24, and the second one $115,010.81. DiPietro strenuously denied the allegations during the firm’s investigation. The claims were both withdrawn, one on 4/24/2015, the other on 4/25/2015.

Daniel John Flores (CRD #2908027) is a previously registered broker and investment advisor whose last employer was Woodbury Financial Services, Inc. (CRD #421) of Appleton, WI. His previous employers include Princor Financial Services Corporation (CRD #1137) of Neenah, WI, Gunnallen Financial, Inc (CRD #17609) and Sii Investments, Inc. (CRD #2225), both of Appleton. No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1997.

Flores has three disclosures in his record, all from 2018. On 4/16/2018, he was discharged from Woodbury for”engaging in an unapproved financial transaction with a client.” No additional information is available for this case.

On 7/27/2018, FINRA reported that Flores failed to respond for a request for information. Two letters were sent to Flores on 7/27/2018, and 8/20/2018, respectively, with no response. On October 30, 2018, FINRA barred Flores indefinitely and in all capacities from any association with a FINRA member.

Alex Gerardo Herrera (CRD #3204779) is a former registered broker and investment representative whose last employer was UBS Financial Services Inc. (CRD #8174) of Coral Gables, FL. His previous employers include HSBC Securities (USA) INC. (CRD #19585), also of Coral Gables, Atlas One Financial Group, LLC (CRD #124057) of Miami, FL, and Citicorp Investment Services (CRD #23988) of Long Island City, NY. No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1999.

Herrera is the subject of three disclosures, with the most recent filed on 8/08/2018, a FINRA disciplinary action and Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC) form in relation to his employment with UBS Financial Services. The investigation was focused on his voluntary termination “while under review after advising management he had engaged in financial and real estate relationships with longstanding clients without prior approval.” FINRA requested information from Herrera in letters dated May 17, 2018 and June 6, 2018 in relation to the allegations.

Through his legal counsel, Herrera indicated to FINRA that he declined to provide the requested information to them. On 7/23/2018, without admitting or denying the findings, Herrera signed the AWC letter, accepting sanctions. In the letter, FINRA indefinitely barred Herrera in all capacities.

Shakela Yashika Carter (CRD #4321231) is a former registered broker and investment advisor who was last employed with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (CRD #7691) of Fort Lauderdale, FL. Before becoming licensed, she was employed with Bank of America and Capital Strategies, also of Fort Lauderdale. She started in the industry in 2000, becoming a licensed broker in 2009. No current employment information is available, and she is not currently affiliated with any FINRA member firm.

Carter voluntarily resigned from Merrill Lynch on 2/8/2016, after she was under internal review by the firm for “fraud, wrongful taking of property, or violating investment-related statutes, regulations, rules or industry standards of conduct.” An amended Form U5 added that Carter had participated in outside business activities with a client or clients. Subsequent amended forms indicated that Carter assisted a client with an outside credit agreement and an outside investment arrangement with due diligence.

FINRA’s Enforcement division began an investigation on June of 2016 into the allegations against Carter. FINRA requested on-the-record testimony from Carter in regards to the investigation, and sent multiple notifications to her last known address of record. On 11/29/2017, Carter emailed FINRA staff and notified them that she was no longer interested in working in the industry, and would not testify at any time. She then failed to appear on December 20, 2017 or on January 8, 2018 as requested to provide testimony.

Anthony Sica (CRD #1332626) has been employed by Joseph Gunnar since November 2003. Previous employment includes Wachovia Securities, LLC from January 2001 to October 2003, Prudential Securities Incorporated from April 1993 to January 2001, Lehman Brothers Inc. from August 1985 to April 1993 and McLaughlin, Piven, Vogel Inc. from January 1985 to August 1985.

According to the FINRA BrokerCheck, there have been complaints against Anthony Sica.

In 2017, while employed by Joseph Gunnar, allegations shown without admitting or denying the findings, Sica consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he made unsuitable recommendations to an elderly customer living on a fixed income. The findings stated that Sica repeatedly recommended that the customer purchase high-risk, speculative securities that were inconsistent with her investment profile. Sica’s recommendations often resulted in an undue concentration of the customer’s account, which represented substantially all of her liquid assets, in speculative securities. Further, Sica often engaged in short-term in-and-out trading of the speculative investments in the customer’s accounts causing substantial losses. Sica’s recommendations resulted in losses of more than $150,000. The findings also stated Sica engaged in unauthorized trading by placing trades in the IZRA accounts of a customer who Sica knew was deceased causing aggregated losses on the trades totaling approximately $3,039.

George Mathis (CRD #4271854) has been employed with Raymond James & Associates since November 2011. Previous employment included Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC from January 2008 to November 2011, Wachovia Securities, LLC from January 2008 to May 2009 and A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. from November 2000 to January 2008.

According to the FINRA BrokerCheck, there have been complaints against George Mathis.